Organoleptic properties of meat, or any food in general, are defined by the attributes perceived by the consumer when the product is eaten. Among the attributes that most influence consumer satisfaction are those related to texture and consistency, characterized by impressions of tenderness and juiciness, and the flavor that results from a combination of olfactory and gustative sensations, which is what we call taste.
Meat tenderness is defined as the difficulty or ease with which the meat can be cut or chewed. The impression of tenderness is directly related to four main factors: degradation of the muscle fiber, the contractile state of the muscle, the quantity and distribution of connective tissue, and the quantity of intra-muscular fat. These factors are susceptible to genetic or environmental variation.
Juiciness plays a very important role in the general impression palatability perceived by the consumer. It could be defined as the impression that results from chewing, caused by the juices released from the meat during the process. Meat juices contain many aromatic and volatile components responsible for flavor, and also help to soften and fragment the meat during chewing. In addition they stimulate the production of saliva, which provides a sustained impression of juiciness. The lack of juiciness in meat limits its acceptability and destroys its unique sensory virtues.
Palatability, i.e., texture characterized by the attributes of tenderness and juiciness, is the sensory quality that most influences product acceptability on part of the consumer. Because palatability is the property on which today's consumers place most emphasis when defining their preferences in the purchasing of meat, texture is a characteristic of great economic importance. This texture characteristic is very difficult to control mainly because it depends on so many factors (environmental, handling, genetic). These factors may either act alone and/or in combination with others. For instance, the elapsed time from the point of slaughter, the required cooking temperature, and the amount of intramuscular fat are just a few examples of these contributory factors.
Consumers are relying more on the convenience of pre-cooked meats. Simultaneously, the meat processing industry is responding to increasing concerns for food safety. USDA requirements may force manufacturers to cook the meat products at a temperature which is optimum in terms of safety, but in optimum in terms of palatability. Further, because the precooked product must be reheated in many cases, the meat products ultimately endure a second cooking process before being consumed. This second cooking process results in further degradation of palatability attributes.
It is known that food manufacturers may add functional ingredients to meat products to improve palatability, but in particular, the addition of functional ingredients for precooked products is crucial. Unfortunately, many of these functional ingredients used with ingredient technology are of a large particle size. With prior art, the functional ingredients may improve portions of the meat. However, the large particle size or lack of uniform dispersion among the ingredients may cause the ingredients to distribute unevenly, or even congeal within the delivery mechanism before being delivered to the food product. As such, undesirable results such as uneven distribution of flavor, dry pockets, oily pockets, toughness, or uneven texture may occur.
Consequently, it would be desirable to provide a method for adding functional ingredients to meat such that a homogenized dispersion of functional ingredients distributes evenly throughout the meat, wherein the particle size of the ingredients within the dispersion is reduced to form a homogenized dispersion with increased ingredient functionality. Further it would be desirable to provide ingredient technology that enables precooked meat to retain moisture through a re-heating process that equates to near double cooking.